Music can make a world of difference, as Whitney Kroenke Burditt is out to prove as she launches the Playing for Change Foundation. The daughter of sports and entertainment mogul Stan Kroenke chose Denver’s Historic Paramount Theater as the site for the PFCF’s first fund-raiser, a concert starring Keb’ Mo’ and Colorado’s own Todd Park Mohr.
Money that the foundation generates will be used to provide such resources as facilities, supplies and educational programs to musicians and their communities around the world, particularly those in underdeveloped nations.
Projects already underway are:
* Building and supporting a music school in Guguletu, South Africa. When it is done, it will offer the township’s young people an alternative to the violence and deprivation they face daily, Burditt says. In addition to building the school, the PFCF will provide musical instruments and other necessities.
* Rebuilding and enhancing Tibetan refugee centers in Dharamsala, India, and Kathmandu, Nepal. The centers provide food, medical care and shelter to Tibetans as they begin their lives in exile.
* Supporting the Mehlo Arts Center in Johannesburg, and the neighboring township of Soweto, in South Africa. The center brings together writers of poetry, drama, prose, screenwriting, critical analysis, essay writing and more. The school will invite artists from around the world to Johannesburg, providing students the opportunity to learn directly from writers in the global literary community.
Burditt is the foundation’s executive director; Mark Johnson is the president; vice presidents are Dave Bacon, Heather O’Brien Bacon, Greg Johnson, Kevin Krupitzer and Jonathan Walls.
In addition to Keb’ Mo’ and Todd Park Mohr, other musicians taking part in the benefit were the Exile Brothers from Dharamsala; Louis Mhlanga from Johannesburg; and Roberto Luti of New Orleans.
Playing for Change Foundation is headquartered in W. Hollywood, Calif. Additional information can be found at playingforchange.com.

Pictures taken at the concert’s VIP reception can be seen at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.